1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an automatic book mark. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a book mark whereby once set in place the reader's place is automatically maintained without further adjustment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,832, to Machnikowski, discloses a book mark comprising a first section adapted to extend along one side of a page or leaf of a book or the like, a tongue extending from the first section and adapted to extend on the other side of the page or leaf and cooperating with the first section to hold the marker to the page or leaf with a wedging action; and a flexible second section which is adapted to extend from the first section and the page or leaf. The first and/or second section may carry printed or written messages The relative flexibility of the second section permits the book mark to bend should the marker be forced toward the book, as if dropped, so that the pages of the book are not damaged
U.S. Pat. No. 901,225, to Brockett et al., discloses a book mark comprising a clasp or clip for attachment to the back of a book; a rod-member pivotally attached to the clasp or clip; and a reference slip or card, insertable between pages of the book, pivotally connected to the rod-member.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,790,649, to Baumgarten, discloses a book mark comprising a clip and a band of soft, flexible material secured to the clip at one end, the other end of the band being weighted so that it will remain in place on the page which it overlies.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,664,847, to Orman, discloses a book mark comprising a plurality of lengthy flexible marker ribbons and a clamp for attaching corresponding ends of the respective ribbons to one of the book covers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,609, to Sealana, discloses a book mark having a plurality of finders which enable convenient location of several places in a book. The book mark comprises a substantially flat wafer member having a linear slot therein; a tab member substantially integrally connected to the wafer and extending outwardly therefrom in the same plane; a hook portion connected to the extended end of the tab member projecting back towards the slot in confronting relation with the tab member; and a plurality of thin ribbons each looped at one end through the slot and fastened to its own body portion whereby the ribbon is secured to the wafer member. Each of the ribbons has a width substantially equal to the length of the slot whereby the ribbons are disposed in superposed aligned relationship and each of the ribbons has a length substantially in excess of the height of the book in which the marker is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,405,374, to Singer, Jr., discloses a book mark comprising a leaf having a folding line and two parts turnable relative to each other around said folding line, and a resiliently bendable flap having a part permanently and closely affixed to a part of the surface of said leaf and having another part extending in the direction to said folding line and forming a continuously resilient continuation of the affixed part without any foldably weakening lines whereby the flap, in unbent condition, is positioned parallel to the leaf and, in bent condition, tends to return to the parallel position, the folding line being located beyond the free end of the flap.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,609, to Safier, discloses a book mark comprising a clip having a support plate disposed at right angles thereto, a first sleeve slidingly mounted on the plate, and a second sleeve slidingly mounted on the first sleeve. A marking finger is pivotally attached to and suspended from the second sleeve. The telescoping action of the first and second sleeves over one another and the support plate allow positioning of the marking finger at a desired location.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,036, to Jorgensen, discloses a place-holding device for books comprising a supporting member adapted to be positioned along the spine of a book, and provided with clips to engage the book so as to secure the supporting member in place thereon. A pair of arms is provided at one end of the supporting member, the arms adapted to extend along the edges of respective opposite pages of the book. The arms are rotatably mounted on the supporting member so as to be adjustable to different degrees of opening of the book. The arms are frictionally inhibited from rotating relative to one another so that they can hold a given adjustment. A pair of place-holding fingers disposed on respective arms are adapted to extend across portions of the faces of opposite pages to restrain accidental closure of the book and to mark the place upon intentional closure of the book.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,646,291, to Horacek, discloses a book mark comprising a single length of wire bent intermediate its ends to provide a tongue; one side portion of the tongue bent centrally at right angles to form a laterally extending arm, the outer end portion of the arm bent at right angles to the arm to provide a depending page-engaging finger, the extreme end of the finger bent upon itself to form a rounded loop; the opposite side portion of the tongue bent upon itself to extend downwardly at a point parallel with the arm and by a plurality of successive bends formed into a substantially frusto-conical clip, the clip depending from the free end of the tongue adjacent thereto, the free end of the opposite side portion terminating in a depending portion parallel with and adjacent the opposite side portion of the tongue, the extreme end thereof bent at right angles to overlap the opposite side portion of the tongue, to impart a torsional tension to the arm and finger; with a tie plate secured to and intermediate the side portions comprising the tongue to maintain the side portions in spaced parallel relation. In an alternative embodiment, a similar structure is formed from sheet metal.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,937,442, to Scognamillo, discloses a book mark comprising a clip adapted to straddle one of the covers of a book, an arm pivotally mounted on the clip to extend substantially parallel to and obliquely of the upper edges of the pages of the book and a finger flexibly connected to the arm to overlie a leaf or page of the book. The finger, on account of its flexible connection to the arm, may be caused, by the turning of the leaf or page which it overlies, to swing out of overlying relation to the page and then be caused, by its weight and its flexible connection to the arm, to swing back into position to overlie the next succeeding leaf or page of the book.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,449,211, to Forsyth, discloses a book mark comprising a clamp, substantially U-shaped in cross section, formed from a flat piece of sheet material bent longitudinally upon itself to provide outer and inner clamp sections adapted to engage between them a book cover, the bend connecting the sections straddling the upper edge of the cover; a tubular shoulder, non-circular in cross-section, on the clamp, an end edge of one of the clamp sections being rolled to provide the shoulder, the shoulder being disposed wholly beyond and adapted to fit against the side edge of the cover, to constitute a guide and stop for accurate positioning, in cooperation with the bend of the clamp, of the marker upon the cover; a marker arm of spring wire having one end extended into the shoulder and bent so as to be griped within the shoulder and held against movement therein, the arm including a long straight medial portion extended from the shoulder at a right angle thereto and outside of and in parallel relation to the bend of the clamp, the medial portion terminating in a free end inwardly extended to lie against leaves of the book and to move therebetween when the leaves are turned.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,074, to Meyers, discloses a book mark comprising a resilient clip; a circular plate struck from the clip and extending obtusely therefrom; a lever having a cup-shaped circular housing fixed to one end thereof; the circular housing pivotally secured to the circular plate; a page holding member extending right angularly from the other end of the lever; and a coil spring in the housing secured at one end to the housing and at the other end to the plate for constantly urging the lever downwardly to a page-holding position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,131, to Salayka, discloses a book mark comprising an elongated arm; means provided on one end of the arm for attachment to a cover of a book adjacent the binding thereof with the arm overlying and generally parallel to one edge of the pages of the book; and a tab on the other end of the arm adapted to lie between two consecutive pages of the book, the tab extending toward the arm-attaching means at an acute angle with respect to the length of the arm. The arm and tab of the book mark are made of an integral sheet of elastic, plastic material which is sufficiently stiff to be self-sustaining when the book mark is held supported from the end of the arm bearing the arm-attaching means with the arm horizontal while being sufficiently soft and resilient for the arm to be bent away from the edge of the page of the book which it confronts and to be twisted about its longitudinal axis as the page engaged by the tab is turned in a normal manner, thereby permitting escape of the page past the tab and the tab and arm resuming their relaxed shape with the tab overlying the edge of the next page of the book.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,137, to Baldwin, discloses a book mark comprising an elongate clip consisting of an outside frame and a central tongue formed integrally therewith and jointed with the outside frame at one end of the clip; and a resilient tongue portion of transparent material, said resilient tongue portion being of arcuate shape and joined with the clip at the one end thereof. The resilient tongue initially extends laterally away from the one end of the clip in arcuate overlying relation thereto to terminate at its free end in closely spaced relation to the clip adjacent the opposite end of the clip. The resilient tongue is of uniform width throughout its length, the width being substantially equal to that of the clip, and is of a thickness substantially less than the thickness of the clip so as to be readily movable both sideways and away from the clip so as to provide substantially no impedance to the turning of a page upon which the tongue may rest. The resilient tongue is, at the same time, of sufficient resiliency to permit the tongue to return toward the clip after each deflection which may be incidental to the turning of a page.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,654, to Hupp et al., discloses a one-piece bookmark made of a plane strip of flexible, resilient material having a clip portion spaced from one end with a holding tongue in the plane of the strip to clip the bookmark to pages of a book and an indicator portion with a page indicating marking tongue at the end of the strip with the free end of the page indicating tongue extending over the clip portion so that the end of the page indicating tongue will overlie pages of the book. The tongues are formed from the plane of the strip by slitting the strip with the ends of the slits curved to distribute the stress of flexing and bending the tongues and to provide space for pages held by the holding tongue. The material adjacent the end of the slit in the clip portion is deflected from the plane of the strip to provide greater gripping effect of the clip portion. The clip portion and indicator portion may be joined along a bend or crease in the strip to form an angle between the portions so the page indicating tongue may overlie more pages.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,156, to Frost, discloses a book mark comprising an anchoring member for securing the book mark to the body of a book and a pointer connected to the anchoring member and adapted, in use, to overlie an edge portion of pages of the book, and to extend from the anchoring member generally in the direction of a center portion of the spine of the book. The arrangement being such that the pointer is capable, in use, of flexing outwardly of the pages of the book on the turning of a page to allow passage of the page past the pointer.
German Patent No. 2931263 discloses a book mark comprising a clip section and an indicating section. The clip section includes an elastic arm extending therefrom and the marking section also includes an elastic arm extending therefrom. The two elastic arms are joined so as to form a telescopic joint.
German Patent No. 3245173 discloses a transparent marker that is utilized for marking a line or a paragraph on a given page, by clipping to one or more pages of a book.
German Patent No. 3529851 discloses a book mark which affixes to the book by utilization of a sticky substance, which must be periodically replenished.